Creative utility right-of-way management
Utility rights-of-way, representing about four million acres, can be effectively used for compatible purposes. A task force determined that use of easement land on private property would differ from fee-owned land, which can be more readily turned over to recreation and other public uses. A national and international survey of utilities indicates that fee-owned lands are more widely used and that utilities in urban areas accept more use of their rights-of-way because of the pressures of limited available land. Other utilities, fearing lawsuits, permit little use of their land, although some states have passed protective legislation to insulate utilities. Compatible uses include agriculture, parking lots, and extensions of private property. Buildings and swimming pools are not considered suitable uses. Recent uses include community gardens and playgrounds, Christmas tree farms and nurseries, exercise trails, and a new concept of energy plantations. Designs for rights-of-way are becoming more environmentally sensitive and the appearance of transmission poles and lines more in accord with the area. Multi-purpose land use has led to multi-disciplinary review of applications for right-of-way use. The opportunities for imaginative use of this land are bound only by considerations of safety and access. (DCK)
- Research Organization:
- Office of Environmental Affairs, Seattle
- OSTI ID:
- 5286552
- Journal Information:
- Public Power; (United States), Vol. 35:5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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POLICY AND ECONOMY
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
LAND USE
POWER TRANSMISSION LINES
AGRICULTURE
BIOMASS PLANTATIONS
CIVIL LIABILITY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
LEGISLATION
MANAGEMENT
RECREATIONAL AREAS
SAFETY
TREES
URBAN AREAS
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BIOMASS
ENERGY SOURCES
LIABILITIES
PLANTS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
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